The Editorial Page: From Licence Raj to Jan Vishwas, what we need to set our entrepreneurs free 12 SATURdAY, dECEMBER 13, 2025 JOurnALIsm of COurAge KOlKATA, lATE CITy, 22 pAGEs ₹6.00 (₹12 in North East states, ₹20 in Andaman) l www.indianexpress.com DA I ly F r O M : A H M E DA B A D , C H A N D I GA r H , D E l H I , j A I p U r , KO l K ATA , l U C K N O w , M U M B A I , N AG p U r , pAT N A , p U N E , vA D O DA r A Happening today lLioneL Messi begins his GOAT India Tour 2025, which will take the football legend to Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi over three days. The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner will start his trip from Kolkata. Track These and more on www.indianexpress.com airLine Ceo, toP offiCiaLs aPPear Before reguLator’s inquiry PaneL Oversight on indigo under scanner, DgcA sacks 4 flight ops inspectors Airline turns to former FAA advisor to review disruptions in schedule sukalp sharma New Delhi, December 12 parliament p7 Rahul seeks debate on aiR pollution, govt says Ready intHewakeofthemassivedisruption in indiGo’s flight operations last week, aviation regulatorDirectorateGeneralofcivil Aviation (DGcA) has sacked fourflightoperationsinspectors (FOis)whowereresponsiblefor oversight on the airline and its preparation for the new pilot rest and duty duration rules. thefourFOis,engagedwith the DGcA on contract basis, have been relieved with immediate effect to join their respective parent organisations, according to an order by the regulator. the DGcA named the four FOis, whose services with the regulator have been terminated, as Deputy chief FOi rishi raj chatterjee, senior FOi seema Jhamnani, and FOis Anil Kumar pokhriyal and priyam Kaushik. Questions have been raised from different quarters on the DGcA’s oversight on indiGo following last week’s spate of flight cancellations and delays that severely impacted tens of thousands of passengers. this could mark the beginning of government and »Continued on Page 2 IndiGo capable... Govt to monitor them very closely, says Naidu Liz Mathew New Delhi, December 12 steppinG in afterdisruptions in indiGo flight operations left thousands stranded at airports across the country last week, civil Aviation Minister K rammohan naidu said Friday that though he is satisfied with the progressmadeinrestoringnormalcy, the government will now closely monitor indiGo operations. Acknowledgingthatthecivil aviation sector needs reforms, keeping passenger interest as priority, he said the challenge is express interview k raMMohan naidu CIvIl AvIATION MINIsTEr to bring in more aircraft fast. inaninterviewwithTheIndian Express, naidu said, “things are back to normal, all operations have stabilised and indiGo is operating up to more than 1,950 flights. All the destinations are properly connected. so at the airport side and the passenger side, there is no problem. And for the passengerswhohavebeenaffected during the peak of the crisis, issues are being addressed. to a large extent, refunds and rebookings have been closed. since the time (given) is until December 15, that process will continue for three more days.” “indiGo has been one of the »Continued on Page 2 Follow America First strategy, visiting USTR officials told US tech companies In FY25, average employment days per household under scheme was just 50 harikishan sharma New Delhi, December 12 Underline the need to prioritise capex investments in America Us deputy Trade representative rick switzer (centre) and assistant Trade representative Brendan Lynch (second from right) during the UsIBc-UsTr industry roundtable earlier this week. x/@UsIBC soumyarendra Barik & ravi dutta Mishra New Delhi, December 12 in DiscussiOns with American companies during the course of their two-day visit to india, officials from a visiting united states trade representative (ustr) delegation are learnt to have nudged these companies to follow an “America First” strategy. they were also urged to direct a substantive part of their investments in sectors such as technology and artificial intelligencetotheusandfocus on creating meaningful jobs, rather than outsourcing those to foreign workers. A us trade team led by Deputy us trade representative rick switzer and Brendan Lynch, the us chief negotiator for the trade deal with india, wasinDelhiearlierthisweekto ironoutdifferencesinthelongpending bilateral trade agreement (BtA) between the two countries. During two meetings with American tech companies and »Continued on Page 2 President’s Prayer in Manipur President droupadi murmu at Bijoy Govindajee Temple in Imphal on Friday. on a two-day visit to manipur, murmu spoke at a reception programme in senapati district and also launched various developmental projects. ANI By EP UNNY The Big PicTure Macaulay and a medical college page 14 l approvedbycabinet tHe GOvernMent may finalisearevampoftheMahatma GandhinationalruralGuaranteeActandincreasethenumber of guaranteed employment daystoeligibleruralhouseholds from 100 now to 125. the union cabinet discussed the proposal to expand the scheme and also to change the name of the law itself to pujyaBapururalemployment Guarantee Act, sources in the government said. While the law guaranteed jobs for 100 days, the average days of employment provided per household under the scheme was just about 50 days in 2024-25. in fact, the number of households completing 100 days stood at 40.70 lakh last year. in the current financialyear,only6.74lakhfamilies have hit the 100-day ceiling. the proposal comes on the back of an approval process already initiated by the government for continuation of the schemeinthesixteenthFinance commission awards which will be effective April 1, 2026. rs 11,718 Cr for Census 2027 a BiLL to set up a higher educa- tion regulator which will replace bodies such as UGC and AICTE a BiLL to raise FDI in the insurance sector to 100 per cent a BiLL to open nuclear energy sector to private players pages 8, 13 in2022,acommitteeconstituted by the Ministry of rural Development, which administers the MnreGs, was tasked to study the performance of states and issues related to the scheme’s governance. the committee had submitted its report last year. the nreGA was enacted in 2005, and was renamed by the then upA government as Mahatma Gandhi national rural employment Guarantee Act with effect from October 2, 2009.Accordingtosources,the nDA government will have to amendthelawtorenameitand increase the number of »Continued on Page 2 Pushed into BangLadesh as ‘iLLegaL Migrants’ ‘We too suffered, won’t we return home?’ Bengal woman in despair ravik Bhattacharya Kolkata, December 12 business as usual 100 to 125 days: MNREGA scheme to get name change As uncertAinty deepens over the fate of 33-year-old sweety Bibi and her two children Qurban (6) and imran (12), the family now spends its days in quiet despair, inside a small house in chapainawabganj, Bangladesh. they, along with 29-yearold Danish sheikh — husband of sunali Khatun — were part of a group detained in Delhi and later “pushed back” into Bangladesh as “illegal immigrants”. While sunali, who is pregnant, and her son were brought back to india on De- sweety Bibi (left) with sunali khatun, who was brought back to India on december 5, in an old photograph. ExprEss express exclusive cember 5 after a flag meeting between the BsF and Bangla- desh Border Guards following a supreme court order, the rest of the group has been left behind, waiting. “Won’t we return? no one will take us back? My two sons went through the same trauma and nightmare as sunali and her son. But they got back home and we are still here. Howlongcanwestaylikethis?” sweetytoldTheIndianExpress over the phone. After spending nearly three months in jail since August 21, sweety, her children, and Danish received bail from a chapainawabganj district court on December 1. »Continued on Page 2 25 PeoPLe died in BLaze on deCeMBer 6 Under scrutiny: A string of approvals behind Goa nightclub theincidentsothataccountability can be fixed. According to documents, M/s Being Gs Hospitality Goa ArporaLLp,whichoperatesthe the local panchayat in Arpora restaurant and has saurabh and government departments Luthra,GauravLuthraandAjay so that Birch by romeo Lane Gupta as partners, entered into a licence agreecouldoperate.the ment with the approvals include express property owner, trade, excise and surinder Kumar food safety liceKhosla, on nonces; a pollution body nod; and three no-objec- vember28,2023,toleaseapropertycalled‘cordonichoAgor’at tion certificates. Aninquiryheadedbynorth sankwadi Arpora measuring Goa district magistrate and col- 31,200 square metres. »Continued on Page 2 lectorAnkityadavisexamining From food safety licences to pollution body clearance and three NOCs Pavneet singh Chadha Panaji, December 12 WitH tHe fatal fire at a Goa nightclub putting the spotlight on whether government departments had been lax in issuingapprovalsandprompting the chief minister to say errant officials would face action, documentsaccessedbyTheIndian Express show that at least seven approvals were given by exclusive l sIxTeen monThs aFTer she qUIT FoLLowInG dIsqUaLIFIcaTIon From ParIs oLymPIcs ‘Will tell my son, I did this’: Vinesh back on wrestling mat, eyes LA Olympics Mihir Vasavda the paris Olympics, where she was disqualified for missing weight — said Friday that she LAst yeAr in paris, wrestler has returned to the mat. vinesh phogat walked away “i don’t think i am over it fromthematintears—broken, yet,” vinesh told The Indian empty, undone. she didn’t just Express, referring to paris, lose an Olympic medal, she whereshehadenteredthefinal came home with a ofthe50kgeventbut page 1 brutal heartbreak was disqualified on and announced her the day of the bout retirement. after weighing 100 sixteenmonthslater,india’s gramsoverthelimit.“Butididgutsiest athlete — who took on n’t want it to be my end.” thesystem,thentookdownthe vinesh, 31, said she has reworld’s best wrestler in her cat- sumed training and is “stepegory and reached the final of ping back toward Los Angeles Mumbai, December 12 anchor 2028 with a heart that’s unafraid and a spirit that refuses tobow.”Butthebiggestmotivation behind her comeback, she said, is the thought of her fourmonth-old son, Kridhav, her “little cheerleader” as she calls him, one day watching her compete — and win. “it’ll be an amazing feeling if my son, who will be three by the time of the LA Olympics, canwatchmeplayatabigtournamentandwatchmewin,”vineshsaid.“youknow,iimagine a scenario where, if i’m there at the 2028 Olympics, he’ll turn to Before she can again compete internationally, Vinesh Phogat, 31, will have to navigate the domestic selection trials. FIlE me and say, ‘Arey mummy, kuch toh kar lo yaar!’ (Mom, come on, do something)”. While she competed in the 50kg category in paris, vinesh is likely to wrestle in the 53kg or 57kg weight class when she returns to competition in 2026. the year will be a busy one for india’swrestlers,withtheAsian championships scheduled for April, the Asian Games in september and the World championships in October. Before she can compete internationally, vinesh will have to navigate the domestic selec- tion trials. it’s a long road ahead, but she seems unfazed. “the path to paris wasn’t straightforwardeither,”vinesh said, adding that her primary focus now is to get back to full fitness. When asked about vinesh’s return, sanjay singh, president of the Wrestling Federation of india (WFi), said, “she is welcome to compete again.” “i want to assure that there won’t be any discrimination against anyone. As long as the rules and selection criteria of the federation are followed, everyone is welcome,” the WFi chief told The Indian Express over phone from naranpura, Ahmedabad, where the national championships got underway Friday. incidentally, the venue of the nationals — veer savarkar sports complex — has life-size portraits of the former WFi president Brij Bhushan sharan singh, a former Mp facing trial in a Delhi court after some of the country's top women wrestlersaccusedhimofsexual harassment in 2023. vinesh »Continued on Page 2 Kolkata